APWH

    Corburn  

Document-­‐Based  Question:  The  Haitian  Revolution  as  a  Global  Phenomenon  

Directions:  The  following  question  is  based  on  the  accompanying  Documents  1-­‐8.    The  documents  have  
been  edited  for  the  purpose  of  this  exercise.    Write  an  essay  to  respond  the  following  essay  prompt.  

This  question  is  designed  to  test  your  ability  to  work  with  and  understand  historical  documents.      

Write  ONE  DBQ  paragraph  that:  

Prompt:  

1.    Using  the  documents,  explain  how  the  Haitian  revolution  was  a  global  event  in  terms  of  its  
origin,  its  process,  and  its  legacy.  
 
Document  1  
Source:    French  Code  Noir  (Black  Code)  King  Louis  XIV  in  1685  –remained  in  force  until  1848.  French  legal  
code  for  the  regulation  of  slavery  in  the  West  Indies,  including  sugar  plantations  in  Saint  Domingue  
 
“2.    All  slaves  in  our  islands  shall  be  baptized  and  instructed  in  the  Catholic  religion.  
22. Masters  shall  be  obliged  to  provide  each  week  to  their  slaves  of  eighteen  years  or  older  for  food  
2  1/  2  measures  of  cassava  flour,  or  three  cassavas  weighing  2  ½  pounds  each  at  least,  or  some  
equivalent  provisions,  with  2  pounds  of  saltbeef  or  three  pounds  of  fish…  
23. It  is  prohibited  to  give  slaves  brandy  or  fermented  cane  juice  to  take  the  place  of  rations  
mentioned  in  the  previous  article.  
59. We  grant  to  those  who  have  been  emancipated  the  same  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities  
enjoyed  by  people  born  free;  wishing  that  the  benefits  of  acquired  liberty  may  produce  in  them,  
as  much  for  their  persons  as  for  their  goods,  the  same  effects  that  the  good  fortune  of  natural  
liberty  offers  to  our  other  subjects.”  
 
Document  2  
Source:    Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  and  Citizen  ,  1789  Marquis  de  Lafayette  (and  Thomas  Jefferson)  
 
² “  Men  are  born  and  remain  free  and  equal  in  rights;  social  distinctions  may  be  based  only  upon  general  
usefulness.”  
² “The  aim  of  every  political  association  is  the  preservation  of  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  man;  
these  rights  are  liberty,  property,  security,  and  resistance  to  oppression.”  
² “The  source  of  all  sovereignty  resides  essentially  in  the  nation;  no  group,  no  individual  may  exercise  
authority  not  emanating  expressly  therefrom.”  
² “  Since  property  is  a  sacred  and  inviolate  right,  no  one  may  be  deprived  thereof  unless  a  legally  
established  public  necessity  obviously  requires  it,  and  upon  condition  of  a  just  and  previous  indemnity.”  
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APWH     Corburn  

Document  3  
Jean-­‐Marie  d’Augy,  white  president  of  the  colonial  Assembly  in  Saint-­‐  Domingue  1790  at  the  occasion  of  
the  torture  and  execution  of  the  mulatto  leader,  Vincent  Oge  following  his  attempts  to  bring  the  new  
rights  of  man  from  France  to  Haiti.  
 
“We  have  not  brought  half  a  million  slaves  from  the  coasts  of  Africa  to  make  them  into  French  citizens.”      
 
 
Document  4  
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Source:      Mark  Almond,  20  century  historian  Revolution  500  Years  of  struggle  for  Change  p.  85  
 
“  In  May  1802,  Napoleon’s  forces  tried  to  re-­‐establish  slavery.    To  make  matters  worse,  the  French  
Commander  kidnapped  Toussaint  and  deported  him  back  to  France.    The  effect  was  to  enrage  the  black  
majority  and  provoke  an  even  greater  rebellion.    By  now  black  soldiers  had  gained  experience  in  organizing  
an  army.    The  French  were  at  a  disadvantage”  they  were  more  susceptible  to  disease  (particularly  yellow  
fever)  than  their  opponents,  and  reinforcements  were  difficult  to  obtain  from  France.    The  French  troops  
were  also  demoralized  by  fighting  against  enemies  who  sang  the  Marsellaise  and  invoked  revolutionary  
ideals.    One  officer,  Lacroix,  asked,  “Have  our  barbarous  enemies  justice  on  their  side?  Are  we  no  longer  
the  soldiers  of  Republican  France?  And  have  we  become  crude  instruments  of  policy?”
 
Document  5  
 
Source:    “Revenge  Taken  by  the  Black  Army”  1805  Sketch  
by  Marcus  Rainsford  in  “An  Historical  Account  of  the  Black  
Empire  of  Hayti”  showing  actions  taken  against  the  French  
in  Saint  Domingue’s  war  for  independence  from  France    
and  slavery.    
 

 
 
 
 
 
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APWH     Corburn  

Document  6  
 
Source:    PROCLAMATION  OF  HAITI'S  INDEPENDENCE  BY  THE  GENERAL  IN  CHIEF,  Jean  Jacques  Dessalines  to  the  Haitian  
people  in  Gonaives,  on  January  1st  1804,  year  first  of  Haiti's  independence  

Dear  Citizens,  

 It  is  not  enough  to  have  expelled  from  your  country  the  barbarians  who  have  bloodied  it  for  two  centuries;  it  is  
not  enough  to  have  put  a  brake  to  these  ever  reviving  factions  which  take  turns  to  play-­‐act  this  liberty,  like  ghost  
that  France  had  exposed  before  your  eyes;  it  is  necessary,  by  a  last  act  of  national  authority,  assure  forever  an  
empire  of  liberty  in  this  country  our  birth  place;  we  must  take  away  from  this  inhumane  government,  which  held  
for  so  long  our  spirits  in  the  most  humiliating  torpor,  all  hope  to  resubjugate  us;  we  must  at  last  live  independent  
or  die.      

Let  us  be  on  guard  however  so  that  the  spirit  of  proselytism  does  not  destroy  our  work;  let  our  neighbors  breath  
in  peace,  may  they  live  in  peace  under  the  empire  of  the  laws  that  they  have  legislated  themselves,  and  let  us  not  
go,  like  spark  fire  revolutionaries,  erecting  ourselves  as  legislators  of  the  Caribbean,  to  make  good  of  our  glory  by  
troubling  the  peace  of  neighboring  islands:  they  have  never,  like  the  one  that  we  live  in,  been  soaked  of  the  
innocent  blood  of  their  inhabitants;  they  have  no  vengeance  to  exercise  against  the  authority  that  protects  them.    

Let  us  swear  to  the  entire  universe,  to  posterity,  to  ourselves,  to  renounce  forever  to  France,  and  to  die  rather  
than  to  live  under  its  domination.    

To  fight  until  the  last  crotchet  rest  for  the  independence  of  our  country!  

 
 
Document  7  
Source:  Douglas  Egerton,  Professor  of  History  Le  Moyne  College,  on  the  impact  of  the  Haitian  Revolution  
on  Americans  in  a  PBS  interview  in  the  1990’s  
 
“Jefferson  was  terrified  of  what  was  happening  in  Saint  Domingue.    He  referred  to  Toussaint’s  army  as  
cannibals.    His  fear  was  that  black  American  would  be  inspired  by  what  they  saw  taking  place  just  off  the  
shore  of  America.  And  he  spent  his  entire  career  trying  to  shut  down  any  contact,  and  therefore  any  
movement  of  information,  between  the  American  mainland  and  the  Caribbean  island.  He  called  upon  
Congress  to  abolish  trade  between  the  United  States  and  what  after  1804  was  the  independent  country  of  
Haiti.    He  argued  that  France  believed  it  still  owned  the  island.    In  short,  he  denied  that  Haitian  
revolutionaries  had  the  same  right  to  independence  and  autonomy  that  he  claimed  for  American  patriots.    
And  consequently,  in  1805  and  finally  in  1806,  trade  was  formally  shut  down  between  the  United  States  
and  Haiti,  which  decimated  the  already  very  weak  Haitian  economy.    And  of  course,  Jefferson  then  argued  
that  this  was  an  example  of  what  happens  when  Africans  are  allowed  to  govern  themselves:  economic  
devastation  caused  in  large  part  by  his  own  economic  policies.”    

   
 
 
 
 
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APWH     Corburn  

Document  8  
Source:    David  Geggus,  historian  “The  Haitian  Revolution”  in  The  Modern  Caribbean,  1989  
 
“From  1792  onward  laws  were  passed  all  around  the  Caribbean  and  in  North  America  restricting  
immigration  from  strife-­‐torn  Saint  Domingue.    Even  when  the  likelihood  of  direct  interference  was  not  
considered  strong.  Slave  owners  feared  the  revolution’s  inflammatory  example.    Within  a  month  of  the  
August  1791  revolt,  slaves  in  Jamaica  were  singing  songs  about  the  uprising,  and  before  long  whites  in  the  
West  Indies  and  North  America  were  complaining  uneasily  of  a  new  “insolence”  on  the  part  of  their  slaves.    
Several  plots  and  insurrections  were  partly  inspired  by  events  in  Saint  Domingue  and  the  Emancipation  
Decree  of  1794.    Most  notable  of  these  were  the  conspiracies  organized  by  free  colored  in  Bahia  (1798),  
Havana  (1812)  and  Charleston  (1822).    However,  many  factors  were  at  work  in  the  slave  rebellions  of  the  
period,  and  to  suppose  that  mere  inspiration  from  abroad  was  critical  in  provoking  resistance  would  be  to  
underestimate  the  difficulties  confronting  dissidents  in  this  age  of  strong  colonial  garrisons.”    
 
 
 
 
 

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